Scottish First Minister will tomorrow (Monday 6
January) deliver his first speech of the new year, in which he
will say the first major step in ensuring that 2025 is a year of
progress for Scotland is for parliament to approve the Budget
Bill.
Speaking to representatives from organisations across the public
and private sectors in Edinburgh, the First Minister will outline
his vision for why 2025 must be a year that delivers further
progress for Scotland.
This will be the first in a series of events across Scotland
where he will set out benefits of the 2025-26 Budget and the
importance of parliament passing the Budget Bill.
The First Minister is expected to say:
“Since I became First Minister in May of last year, I have spent
a great deal of my time out and about, meeting people and
listening to people.
“I have heard both their fears, and their hopes – and their
realism. People know that we have collectively experienced an
unprecedented series of knocks, as individuals, communities, and
as a nation.
“In response, some will pretend there are easy answers. They will
offer soundbite solutions – but if we are going to recover and
renew as a nation, then we have to come together as a nation. We
have to be willing to put in the hard yards.
“And as Scotland's First Minister, I offer the leadership to do
just that – to bring people together and to put in the hard graft
to deliver real solutions.
“There is nothing wrong in Scotland that can't be fixed by what
is right in Scotland. Yes, we've had a tough few years – but we
have got what it takes to build our nation and transform our
prospects, step-by-step, if we are willing to put our collective
shoulder to the wheel.
“We know what needs to be done to make progress for Scotland, and
we took a massive step forward in delivering that progress with
the draft budget, published last month.
“It was a foundation – a platform on which to build a Scotland
fit not just for the coming year, but for the coming decades. It
is a budget that marks a turning point.
“With this budget, I want the people of Scotland to hear loud and
clear my twin commitment to delivery and hope. Delivery in the
present, hope for the future.
“In these opening days of 2025, let us resolve that this will be
a year of progress for Scotland. The first step is for Parliament
to come together and to pass a budget that enables us to get on
with delivering. So let's choose progress, let's choose renewal
and let's choose hope.”
